First Lieutenant Steven Rendon

Start Strong

Soldier's talk about their ROTC experiences.

START MOVING FORWARD I have not had a summer ever ever like this before. Twenty-eight days of finding out you're made of. And having fun doing it. It's awesome man. Nowhere else I get to do anything like this.

In my case, it's my junior year so I started a little late to the ROTC, but this allows me to catch up. I'm a transfer student, so that's missing two years of ROTC. But, coming to Leaders Training Course, I think I can be competitive in my Military Science third year.

START REACHING HIGHER
Leaders Training Course helps you catch up in the first two years because it's a crash course of all the basics that you learn in the first few years of ROTC. Then, with ROTC, when I graduate, I get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. I'll be able to start my career and get a huge kick start and be miles ahead of others.

START TESTING LIMITS
LTC is awesome, especially the last couple of days when we've been outdoors. Um, I live for this kind of stuff. The rappelling, the ropes course, the water. Learning how to belay properly...And having someone else's life practically in my hands...It's really been exciting.

START BUILDING CONFIDENCE
I got to LTC. I couldn't swim. I had to learn how to swim. So jumping out there, you can't see to the bottom, it's kind of scary for me. But, the adrenaline's pumping, and everybody's trying to work together and so. So far so good. I've got over a lot of fears here. I didn't think I would be able to do it but I did it twice. It was great!

START GAINING ADVANTAGES
The Army ROTC has provided me with full financial scholarship to pay for my studies and also with a monthly stipend to help pay for my living fees and also with book money every semester. I'm getting paid to go to school basically. To get an education. And it's great.

START LEADING SOONER
They give you the opportunity to be a squad leader, a platoon leader. You can go back to college and talk in front of your class. And they actually give you that confidence. Over the last four weeks, I've made amazing friends, gained a lot of confidence, and learned a lot about myself as far as being a leader.

It's a great program. And I'm glad that someone else said those exact words to me. Or else I wouldn't be here today. If you want to have a really fulfilling, exciting two or four years of school, and really learn some amazing skills, this program is definitely for you.